Or, Perhaps, Jellylorum?
by Paradox Predator
Summary: Why, oh why did Jellylorum and Skimbleshanks go down to the docks? Now they have to deal with the wild Jennyanydots, a member of Growltiger's crew who is considering joining the Junkyard Jellicles. Who can control her? Will it be Asparagus, Skimbleshanks, Bustopher Jones, or, perhaps, Jellylorum? My entry for Effanineffable's 'Where has the Jelly gone' challenge. Kitten!Jellylorum
1. Chapter 1

Or, Perhaps, Jellylorum?

By

Paradox Predator

"_Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum, such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat, such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum- names that never belong to more than one Cat."_

_~The Naming of Cats, _by T.S. Eliot.

…

Jellylorum panted in fear, her young heart racing as the horrific fiend drew closer, slavering at the mouth. Her hackles rising, she threw her head back and let out a terrified yowl in the hopes that someone, _anyone, _would come and save her.

"Very good, Jelly," the fiend said in an oddly normal-sounding voice. "Try to scream a little louder next time, though. The audience likes that."

"Alright, Da'," said Jellylorum. "I'll work on it. Can we go have some fun now?"

Gus took off his Firefrorfiddle mask and smiled. "Of course. Let's go to the yard and see if your young friend is there. What's his name again?"

"He's called Skimbleshanks," Jelly said, rolling her eyes. "Really, sometimes I think you'd forget your head if it wasn't screwed on."

"You're probably quite right," Gus mewed from his seat on his large mask. "Now, where did I put my Firefrorfiddle mask?"

"You're sitting on it. Should I go get Asparagus?" Jellylorum shot her father a pleading look. "The sooner we go the better!"

"Alright, go," said Gus, waving his paw in the general direction of the cat-baskets backstage. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Jelly jumped forward and nuzzled her father's cheek. "Thanks, Da'," she said before scurrying off.

On the way to the Junkyard, Gus pondered his daughter. Jellylorum was generally considered too serious among the other Jellicles her age. She tried hard to follow every rule and generally stayed out of trouble. Not that that was a _bad _thing, but she didn't have as much fun as she should.

Arriving at the Yard, Jellylorum went to talk to Skimbleshanks. It was a fine day, and before too long, they decided to take a walk down to the docks. When they told Gus about it, he told them to bring back some mice. So Skimble and Jelly sallied forth from the Junkyard in search of both food and fun.

When they got to the docks, they were greeted by the sight of an enormous barge that had just come in. Of course they decided to investigate.

"Do you think that they have any fish on board?" Jellylorum asked. "We haven't had fish for a while."

"How should I ken?" Skimble asked. "I'm nae on board, am I? Only way tae tell is tae go and look."

So the two Cats set forth up the pier and were abruptly assaulted, by mice of all things!

"Good work, squad!" echoed a voice from the barge. "Dismissed!" A young Jellicle, about the same age as Jellylorum and Skimbleshanks, swung down a line to land in front of the pair.

She was an orange tabby, dotted and striped all over with brown. There was a bandana tied around her brow, and a carving knife in a cardboard sheath at her side. Pulling the knife out, she pointed it at Jelly and Skimble.

"This pier's property of Growltiger!" she hissed. "What are you two doing here?"

Jellylorum's and Skimble's eyes widened. Everyone had heard of the notorious 'Terror of the Thames' and his raffish crew. They were famous for their cruelty, and no one ever wanted to meet them. Exotica regarded them with fear, as did her kitten sister, Cassandra. And now Skimble and Jelly had walked right into their hands.

Stepping forward, Jelly decided to do whatever she had to in order to get them out of this mess. "We're from the Junkyard Jellicles," she said. "We didn't know that this was Growltiger's pier, do you think that you could let us go? We won't come here again."

The tabby sheathed her knife and cocked her head to one side. "Yardies, huh? I always wanted to see the Yard. I hear that you lot dance all the time."

Skimblshanks nodded. "That we do, lass!" he said. "That we do."

Their antagonist nodded firmly. "Right," she said. "I'll let you go, if you agree to take me to the Junkyard, savvy?"

The pair agreed. What else could they do?

"Just let me get someone to replace me on watch and we can go," the tabby said. "Oh, and what are your names?"

Jellylorum and Skimbleshanks introduced themselves and the tabby grinned.

"Nice names," she mewed. "Mine's Jennyanydots." With that, she turned to the barge. "Oi, Grumbuskin, I gotta go somewhere!"

A gruff voice sounded back. "Go wherever ya like, ya blame nuisance!"

Jennyanydots turned to the pair of Junkyard Jellicles with a smirk. "So, where to next?"

Skimble and Jelly shot each other a glance. What on earth were they to do with this Cat?

…

**AN: So, this is the first chapter of 'Or, Perhaps, Jellylorum?' which is my submission to Effanineffable's 'Where has Jelly gone?' challenge. As you can hopefully tell, it takes place in the same continuity (more or less) as my 'Tales From the Russell Hotel'. **

**This story will document Jelly's attempts to control Jennyanydot's after she leaves Growltiger's crew. But will Jelly control Jenny, or will Jenny's influence loosen up the uptight teenager? Either way, Jenny somehow ends up as a Gumbie Cat!**


	2. Chapter 2

Or, Perhaps, Jellylorum?

Chapter Two

…

"Let's go!" Jennyanydots yowled as she charged down the street. "There's no time to waste!"

"Hey, wait!"Jellylorum called after her, as she and Skimbleshanks desperately tried to match the young Bravo Cat's pace. "Stop! You don't know the way!"

As they ran past a basement flat, a man standing outside with a beer took one look at the three Cats being followed by Jenny's squadron of mice and walked inside, where he poured his drink down the drain.

"I know my way 'round!" Jenny said, turning a corner. "Growltiger's taken me all over London! He's the best!"

"I dinnae ken if this is a good idea, Jelly!" Skimble panted "You know that Exotica's mighty feared o' Growltiger! Is it alright tae take one o' his crew intae the Yard?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Jelly asked her friend. "Let's just hope there isn't a fight!"

Within a few minutes Jenny had led them to the human entrance to the Junkyard. A chain-link fence surrounded the area and was broken only by a locked gate.

"We don't go in here," Jelly said. "There are some Jellicle entrances around the side. Come on."

Leading the other Cats around to the South, Jellylorum stopped in front of a narrow pipe that was pushed through a hole in the fence. Through the pipe, the three young Jellicles could hear faint music playing as Deuteronomy practiced his dance.

"The Leader's in there," said Skimble. "I'll go in and ask if Miss Jennyanydots can enter."

"Call me Jenny," Jennyanydots said automatically. "My full name's way too long for conversation, Mr. Skimbleshanks."

"Well if your name's too long, then what's mine?" Skimblshanks asked. "You'll call me Skimble, then?"

"Sure," said Jenny as Skimble entered the pipe. "I love nicknames." She turned to Jellylorum. "Can I call you 'Jelly'?"

…

Skimbleshanks exited the Railyard pipe in the Ball clearing. Walking up to Deuteronomy, the Cat-who-couldn't-be-ignored began to bounce up and down for attention. The Jellicle Leader stopped his dance and turned to face the young Scottish Fold.

"Yes, young Skimbleshanks?" the middle-aged longhair asked. Deuteronomy was getting on in years, and his owner (and some of the younger Cats) had started calling him 'Old' Deuteronomy part of the time. However, the Cat firmly maintained that he was not old yet, and performed an energetic dance at every Ball in order to prove it. "May I help you?"

"Er, yes Sair," Skimble said. "Me an' Jelly've found a young Cat who wants tae see what being a Junkyard Jellicle is like. Can we bring her in?"

"Of course," Deuteronomy smiled. "Any Cat who wishes to enter the Yard is allowed, as long as they do not bear ill will towards any Jellicle here."

"That's the thing, Sair," the young Jellicle mewled. "This Cat- she's a member o' Growltiger's crew. She's me an' Jelly's age, but Exotica's here, an' we're nae certain that she won't try tae fight her."

"Hmm," said Deuteronomy. "That is a problem. Still, we cannot tell how a Cat will behave until we speak to them. Bring her in."

"Thanks, Old Deuteronomy," Skimble said as he neatly dodged a swat for calling Deuteronomy 'Old'.

…

Outside of the Yard, Jelly was watching Jenny practice fighting techniques with mounting trepidation.

"And then a Grimwhisker's Grapple," the Pirate was saying as she demonstrated the move in question with her carving knife. "So I finish up with a Kristofina's Cut. It's easy, see?"

"I suppose," Jelly mewed. "But, how did the moves get those names? Did no one use them before those Cats?"

Jenny began to say something indignantly, and then stopped and thought for a moment. "Do you know," she said, "I have no clue. Maybe they used them as their signature moves and made them famous?"

"Maybe," said Jelly, dismissing the whole thing. "Do you like to do anything besides fight?"

"I like to dance," Jenny said. "But that's really similar to fighting, anyway."

"It is not!" Jellylorum yowled, standing up with a scowl. "Fighting and dancing are completely different!"

"Are they?" asked Jenny. "Well, then, I'll put my sword down and do all the same fight moves I just did, and then you tell me how different they are!"

Jennyanydots dropped her knife on the ground and began a complex series of movements. Watching, Jelly was struck, to her chagrin, by how beautiful it was as a dance. Jenny turned and dipped and lunged and Jelly followed her Jellicle instincts and joined in.

Just then, Skimbleshanks came back.

"Hello, lassies," he said. "Lovely dance, that is!" Jenny stopped when she heard him and Jelly crashed into her, bowling the both of them over.

"It wasn't a dance!" Jenny grunted from her position on the ground. "It was a sword-fighting routine!" She glanced triumphantly at Jellylorum as the Princess glared at her.

"Aye, is that so?" asked Skimble. "Well, I dinnae ken anything about fighting, sae it just looked like dancing tae me. Any road, Deuteronomy wants tae see you inside."

"Who's Deuteronomy?" Jenny said, bouncing to her feet. "He sounds like a right codger!"

Skimble laughed as Jelly scowled at the Pirate who dared make fun of the Jellicle Leader. "He is, a bit!" Skimble said. "But he's good! Only thing is, we have a couple o' foreign Cats in the Yard, an' ye cannae be challenging them. They had naught to do with Growltiger's mauling, ye ken?"

"Oh, I'm kenning away like nobody's business!" Jenny said cheerfully as she started through the pipe. "Well, are you guys coming?"

Skimble and Jelly again looked at each other nervously. What choice did they have other than to go? They followed Jenny into the pipe and towards their families.

Once inside, the three Jellicles were swamped by young kittens. Munkustrap and the Rum Tum Tugger were Deuteronomy's children, while Cassandra was Exotica's younger sister. Some of the other kittens were named Alonzo, George, and Admetus.

Picking up the Rum Tum Tugger, Jenny began to coo over how cute he was. "Aw!" she said, as Skimble mimed gagging behind her. "Aren't you just the cutest little lion-cub? Yes you are! What's your name?"

"I'm the Rum Tum Tugger. Can I get down?" he asked exasperatedly for a kitten. "Munkus likes being picked up," he added slyly as Jenny lowered him to the ground.

"I do not, Rum-Tum!" a silver and black kitten yowled. "I'll tell Daddy that you were being mean!"

"Well, who is your Daddy?" asked Jenny.

"Our Daddy's the leader of the whole Junkyard!" Rum-Tum said proudly.

"Yeah! He's Deuteronomy!" Munkus concurred.

"Well, we need to speak to him," Jellylorum interrupted. "So, can you stay here for a while? We'll be back later."

"Alright!" the terrible two chorused.

So Skimbleshanks and Jelly set off to bring Jennyandots to the Jellicle Leader. As they walked, they hoped that Jenny would not cause any trouble, but one thought went through their heads.

_Yeah, right. She's a Pirate._

…

**AN: Yeah, I got my movie references out of my system now. I know that you all saw the 'Aristocats' one, but did you see the 'How to Train Your Dragon' one?**

**For the record, why are there no 'Aristocats' and 'CATS' crossovers? They're both about singing Cats!**

**Also, next chapter will definitely focus more on Jellylorum, and little Rum-Tum and Munkus will probably make another appearance.**


End file.
